CHAPTER 452: CHAPTER 452, CONFLICT

The auction was held in a grand pavilion, with two middle-aged men in blue robes standing at the entrance. Their faces were arrogant, and the cuffs of their robes were embroidered with a few scattering snowflakes surrounding a sharp ice sword, the emblem of the Flying Snow Sword Sect.

"If you want to enter the auction, you must pay ten thousand middle-grade spirit stones!"

When Chu Ming and Xu Ming reached the entrance, the middle-aged man on the left folded his hands and said indifferently.

Xu Ming was a prodigy ranked very high on the Profound List, and there were few in the small town who didn’t know him. However, he wouldn’t act too humble just because Xu Ming was a prodigy. After all, Wang Xuanyi was the senior core disciple of the Flying Snow Sword Sect, and even Xu Ming wasn’t much when compared to him.

Swish, swish!

Xu Ming directly took out two boxes of middle-grade spirit stones from his storage ring and placed them in front of the steward of the Flying Snow Sword Sect.

Twenty thousand middle-grade spirit stones were just a small matter to him.

The two entered the pavilion, seeing that the first and second floors were connected. From the second floor, one could fully view everything on the first floor. At the forefront of the first floor was a high platform, illuminated by flickering lights.

"The first floor is for ordinary martial artists. Only the prodigies on the Profound List can enter the second floor, but each prodigy can bring one additional person!"

Half of the first floor’s seats were occupied by ordinary martial artists. On the second floor were individual boxes, totaling over fifty.

"Xu Lie and his group are in Box 24; we can go directly there."

Chu Ming’s gaze swept over, and indeed he found that all the boxes on the second floor were occupied by young men or women with strong qi force, their expressions arrogant and unyielding.

Among them, he even saw Hu Xueqi with his Thousand Snow Sword and Lin Xuan, the one who could kill with a single strike.

"He really came!"

Chu Ming saw Hu Xueqi and Lin Xuan. Naturally, they also noticed Chu Ming, and the aura surrounding Chu Ming gave the two a sense of unfathomable depth.

"Brother Lin, who is the young man beside Xu Ming?"

In Box 19, across from Lin Xuan was a noble young man in a purple robe, with a cold, sharp look in his eyes. Upon hearing Lin Xuan’s murmur, his eyes flickered as he asked indifferently.

"His name is Chu Ming. I’m no match for him. This tea gathering will be your greatest rival; you must be careful!"

Lin Xuan said solemnly. The young man in the purple robe opposite him, known as Evil Moon, ranked nineteenth on the Profound List and was the younger brother of the Fate Stealing Prince, Evil Charmless.

It is said that before Evil Charmless became famous, he was just an ordinary sect disciple. During a sect mission, he accidentally fell into a cave and obtained a cultivation technique that allowed him to steal the fate of other martial artists.

Relying on this technique, Evil Charmless roamed around, stealing the fate of martial artists, which built his current reputation and strength.

Although fate is not equivalent to real strength, it can invisibly influence a martial artist’s potential to a certain degree.

When one person gains the Dao, their entire household benefits. While cultivating that technique, Evil Charmless also taught it to Evil Moon.

"He is my prey. The fate surrounding him is extraordinary. If I can absorb his fate, I might reach the level of the four great prodigies in one fell swoop."

Evil Moon lightly licked his lips, his eyes bursting with a passionate fire, almost turning material.

"Sigh, be careful not to stumble into a trap!"

Lin Xuan shook his head lightly. He was a swordsman with extremely keen intuition. He always felt that Chu Ming was not simple.

The technique of stealing fate is indeed powerful, but it is not without its drawbacks. Stealing someone else’s fate is fundamentally a gamble. The simplest way to steal another’s fate is to defeat them, but if one is defeated, the technique can backfire.

For this reason, even the Fate Stealing Prince, Evil Charmless, wouldn’t act casually. If anything unexpected happened, it would be a severe blow to his foundation.

At this time, Chu Ming and Xu Ming had already arrived on the second floor.

"Chu Ming, you finally decided to come out!"

The door of Box 24 opened, and Feng Yuyan and Xu Lie walked out. Feng Yuyan said with a smile.

"I just came out of seclusion."

Chu Ming explained. The four walked into the box, closing the door gently. Chu Ming keenly noticed that Xu Lie’s expression was somewhat unnatural.

"Xu Lie, what happened?"

Xu Ming also noticed something amiss and asked with a frown.

"We just ran into Huo Qinghan and his gang!"

Xu Lie said with a grim expression.

Hearing this, Xu Ming’s face stiffened, then he let out a light breath and said to Chu Ming and Feng Yuyan with a wry smile.

"You two should find another box to avoid being dragged into this."

"It’s too late for that!"

Xu Lie shook his head lightly and then glanced at Feng Yuyan with a bitter smile.

"Could it be..."

"That’s right, we already had a conflict with them. If it weren’t for the auction’s no-fighting rule, we’d have started fighting already."

Feng Yuyan nodded and said calmly.

"Brother Chu, what do you think..."

Xu Ming was slightly embarrassed. Chu Ming’s strength was close to the top ten of the Profound List. Naturally, he hoped Chu Ming would stand by his side, but Huo Qinghan and his gang were no weaklings, especially Huo Qinghan. As Huo Qingwu’s older brother, with her backing him, he was almost unrestrained in the Eastern Hundred Domains.

"Tell me exactly what happened."

Chu Ming gestured that it was no big deal and said calmly. Through their conversation, he had already guessed most of the situation.

"Here’s how it happened..."

Xu Ming picked up a teacup, took a sip, and began to explain. It took a good ten minutes to lay out the whole story.

As he had imagined, Huo Qinghan was a disciple of the Fire Hall. The Fire Hall and the Blazing Fire Sect were like water and fire. Naturally, Xu Ming and Xu Lie were also at odds with Huo Qinghan and his group.

"No matter. With my current strength, they won’t pose much of a challenge!"

Chu Ming said calmly. To be honest, he also wanted to see Huo Qinghan’s skills firsthand. Having broken through to Tier Four of Void Sword Intent and comprehended the Void Wounding Sword, his combat power was likely on par with prodigies in the top ten of the Profound List.

"Thank you, Brother Chu!"

Xu Lie and Xu Ming clasped their fists in gratitude. They understood that Chu Ming was willing to get involved due to their camaraderie.

Feng Yuyan remained silent. Chu Ming had saved her more than once, and in her heart, the figure of Chu Ming had already taken root.